Opinion

The 113th Congress will soon be in the history books, with a record for advancing long-term economic growth that's spotty at best. Indeed, there are a couple of significant actions legislators could take that would tangibly benefited jobs creation and business performance.

It’s been clear ever since the downturn in defense spending began that our industry would have to develop new approaches to protecting the national asset that is our defense industrial base. One such approach is to grow our industries’ markets overseas. In recent years, we’ve seen gratifying advances in U.S. sales abroad of civil-related aircraft, helicopters, satellites and launch vehicles. That said, I’m convinced we can do more on the civil side and there are ways for the U.S. to become even more competitive with defense-related exports, which in turn will bolster our nation’s national security, foreign policy and economic interests.

Even though Congress has mandated a deadline in 2015 for integrating unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into U.S. airspace, that deadline will probably not be met. However, increasing attention from many sources outside the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is focused on how safety concerns will be addressed.

In the decade since Ronald Reagan’s death, appraisals of the U.S.’s 40th president have focused on his policies’ bold colorings. To help end the Cold War, he first demonstrated to Soviet leaders the folly of trying to keep up with a technologically advanced American military. Reagan’s economic policies also unapologetically advanced the interests of American workers and businesses when he saw foreign competitors had the advantage of an unlevel playing field.